5 Easy Tips for Making Difficult Decisions

There are moments in life when we’re forced to make a tough decision which will change the course of our lives forever. Mine happened not too long ago. I’ve been toying with the idea of entering the academic world for a while and at some point half-heartedly applied to a doctoral program at my dream university, convinced that I don’t really stand a chance. When the selection committee communicated their decision, I was shocked - I got in!

But once the euphoria wore off, my mind was flooded with self-doubt and fear. Was it really worth it to pause my career and jump into the seat of a PhD student? Wasn’t the world of academia an extremely tough and overcrowded job market? Would I be good enough to finish my thesis on time? I never expected to be accepted into the program and these circumstances led me to a truly life-changing decision. Here’s what I learned about making difficult decisions in the process.

Paralyzing fear is a normal reaction, but it needs to be addressed

I was struggling with choosing whether to enter the program or not because I was simply afraid. I feared failure - and this fear paralyzed me. I was scared of what was going to happen after I made my decision, so I procrastinated as much as I could. But the deadline was getting closer and I wasn't anywhere near to making my decision.

I reached out to the professor who agreed to be my supervisor and admitted I was having second thoughts. He told me that I’m not the first doctoral candidate to feel like this and that if I let fear take the decision for me, I’m never going to be happy - no matter what I choose!

While being afraid of the unknown is normal, this fear needs to be addressed - preferably by someone with plenty of life experience who will shake us to see past our fears.

Decide for yourself, not for others

We often find that making a tough decision often involves other people’s advice and agendas which manage to influence the process. When facing a tough choice, we should take the interest of others into account, but we should never sacrifice our needs to please the other person.

I was worried about how my choice will affect the relationship with my partner - for a while I evaded the question altogether. But then I saw his full support and it made me realize I was really lucky to have someone like him by my side. I learned that sometimes it’s best to confront others with our choices instead of worrying over their potential reactions.

Having too much information can hurt the decision-making process

We tend to believe that more information leads to better decisions. The truth is that sometimes information can actually hurt the decision-making process. Once we pass a threshold of too much information, we’ll enter into a state I like to call analysis paralysis.

We start to fill in gaps and add information that isn’t important - human minds cannot stand uncertainty, so when we miss information, we automatically tend to ascribe a greater value to it. You can only imagine what crazy research fit I went through before I realized that I’m not helping myself make the decision.

Developing a plan B is key to survival

Making a tough decision leads to other things happening in our lives - and we should be ready to deal with them at the moment of deciding. Before I made my decision, I carefully assessed how my choice will affect different areas of my life and prepared myself for hard work ahead. With the help of my supervisor, I developed a plan B as well - by focusing on teaching, I could open up a host of future opportunities for furthering my career.

No matter what, listen to your heart

I learned that decisions that don’t resonate deeply in our hearts aren’t worth making. Put everything aside and listen to your instinct - ask yourself whether this is something you really want and if it’s something that feels just right. If it does, you’ll know what to do.

After much deliberation, I simply went for it and made my decision. Weighing risks against benefits, I chose to enter into graduate school - and today I’m really happy I was courageous enough to do it.

This episode in my life taught me that we all have the strength required for making difficult decisions.

Sophia Beirne is author at LeraBlog. The author's views are entirely his/her own and may not reflect the views and opinions of LeraBlog staff. Sophia Beirne is a writer at Career FAQs, Australia’s leading portal on online learning and career resources. She is interested in new eLearning industry trends and instruction techniques.